


Viral

by fatcr0w



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Emotional Constipation, M/M, Outcomeshipping, Post-Canon, Protective Raihan, Social Media Expert Raihan, They protect each other, its my favorite topic, no beta we die like me, protective leon, rambling exploration of Raihan's selfie habit (Again), the only well adjusted person in this group is sonia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:07:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22459987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fatcr0w/pseuds/fatcr0w
Summary: What's the use of having a following if you can't use it to protect what you love?Rated T for language.
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan
Comments: 13
Kudos: 89





	Viral

**Author's Note:**

> I'm messy and i live for pointless angst. Sue me.

The key to staying on top in social media was staying _on top_ of social media. Raihan was a certified expert. He supposed that if gym leading didn't work out he could always fall back on how-to-go-viral seminars to keep his pokemon fed. It wasn't his favorite pastime by far, but someone had to do it.

He, specifically, had to do it.

To be particularly honest, he hadn't planned on becoming a social media influencer, at least not on his personal account. All Galarian gyms had official accounts, Hammerlocke and the champion included. They were essential for keeping the public connected with the day to day of the league while still maintaining some semblance of privacy for the leaders and trainees.

However, unlike the other leaders, his account had been Pidgetter verified even before he joined as a gym leader. He'd gone viral after vlogging his daily life as a middle schooler of far-above-average height. It had been a complete surprise to the then-13-year-old who believed his chances of spotlight had been extinguished in the champion's cup.

Unlike most viral sensations, however, his popularity did not wane over the years, even as his content changed from gags about being a head taller than the bathroom stall to earnest tips and tricks on dragon training. Not to mention he grew from a cute but gangly kid to a terrifyingly handsome young man right before the world's eyes.

By the time he was inducted as a trainee to Hammerlocke gym at 16, Raihan AKA @XXLdragon had gathered over a quarter-million followers.

He'd planned to drop it, let the interest wane and allow the account to die out. The Hammerlocke gym leader, a flying type master, had specifically recruited him to take over the gym at his retirement. It was not just the usual grueling effort of learning administrative work, league politics, sponsor management, as well as constantly training. He also had to work on changing the gym type and the required changes to the battle arena to accommodate the new tactics. So for a year, he simply didn't post.

Rather, he only posted on his private account. He was burnt out on social media. Watching numbers, optimizing time zones, fixing every photo and copyediting his text like some sort of magazine editor really took a chunk out of his time that could be better spent training his pokemon. besides which, he had to manage the official Hammerlocke gym account, a key part of the head-trainee responsibilities and one of the first he'd pass over.

Except.

Having a social media account followed by nearly every media-savvy teenager had one very clear benefit. Legitimate news and events could inform the public, but celebrity news and events captured their immediate emotions. While Leon was a master of working a live crowd, Raihan had become an expert at channeling online crowds.

The dragon leader's lack of excitement was evident as he lounged in the Wyndon stadium locker room, scrolling through Pidgetter with a frown. He wasn't there on any league duty, just meeting up for dinner since Sonia was in town as well. There was a research summit about the Dynamax phenomenon, meaning Professor Magnolia and her bright research assistant were the stars of the show.

It was the offseason, so the champion had pressganged Hop, Bede, and Marnie into a month-long training excursion on the Isle of Armor. Of course with Leon's enthusiastic blessing.

The former champion felt the loss of his childhood to league duties very keenly and didn't want the young trainer to suffer the same way. He couldn't get them out of every required appearance, but for ones such as the annual research summit that didn't require any exhibition battling or interviews, he made a great stand in...Unless you checked Pidgetter.

Raihan's blue eyes reflected the blue of the screen rather brilliantly in the otherwise dark room. He hadn't moved in an hour, causing the motion-sensing lights to go out.

One of the conference attendees had tweeted a photo of Leon's Charizard on display for the researcher's demo instead of the champion's Eternatus and it seemed that everyone had latched on in self-righteous fury and conjecture.

Chirp.  
_Already trying to take the champion's spot?_

Chirp.  
_He should try catching different pokemon before Eternatus crushes him again. Isn't he tired of that same old thing?_

Chirp.  
_He can't stand to be out of the spotlight for even a second. I can't believe a self-centered idiot like him was able to hold the position for long._

Chirp.  
_Amazing he can still show his face after almost getting us all killed._

Chirp.  
_He's just as bad as Rose. I give us six years before he's got some monster trying to control our minds and make us kiss his ugly boots._

The first tweet had come out only twenty minutes ago. There wasn't a trending hashtag and the hate seemed locked into the circle of anti-fans that never had anything good to say about Leon now that he was down and easy to kick. It wouldn't stay that way long if he just left it. Raihan was already moving fast. He'd known this would happen. His thumb worked furiously as he switched between apps.

Five minutes later, @XXLbigdragon updated after an entire season of silence.

A video from this morning, flaunting the special flight rules as he soared above the clouds on Darude's back. His mouth is smeared with cream from a box of pastries he's holding precariously as the Pokemon flies.

"To the red car parked in the Hammerlocke park wild area overlook: The good news is that it's not Corviknight poop! The bad news is... That flavor of pokepuff probably attracts Bewears! #donteatandfly #offseason #vacation "

His fan club latched on first. Sebastian was supposed to be editing some banners for the Hammerlocke gym's offseason Pidgetter, but he definitely had notifications on for all of Raihan's accounts. Within seconds his post had been reChirped a hundred times.

Raihan took a deep breath and counted the seconds. The positive tweets were immediate. Raihan felt himself bracing for the inevitable follow-up. This time the hate hit at exactly one minute and fifty-two seconds after his post. A little slower than usual. He was losing his edge.

Chirp.  
_He thinks he can do whatever he wants just because he's a gym leader._

Chirp.  
_He's not even good enough to be a gym leader. Rose just kept him on for his fan club._

Chirp.  
_He should be training, he was completely useless during the Eternatus incident, couldn't even protect his own gym!_

Chirp.  
_What an attention-whore, and he doesn't even have the skill to back it up._

Chirp.  
_Why would he even become a gym leader anyway_

Chirp.  
_Yea he should have given up when he lost the first time. You can get plenty of attention being a model without taking from REAL trainers._

Chirp.  
_I wish he'd just get dragged off by a Bewear already. His trainees are much better at running the gym. That lead trainee kid should be the leader._

Chirp.

Chirp.

Chirp.

They rolled in faster than he could read. Faster than he could refresh, faster than his notifications could keep up. Chirps, reChirps, threads, screenshots. He got another ping. They were dogpiling on the Hammerlocke gym official account. Another ping. They'd brought the issue from Pidgetter over to Pokegram. Pokesnap and Pikabook would be talking about it next. Then the local celeb rag would post an opinion and try to hunt down the owner of the imaginary red car in the Hammerlocke wild area. Then everyone would rant against him or rave in his defense for just long enough for the research conference to wrap up neatly.

By then everyone will have forgotten to be upset at Leon. The world could continue aiming their hatred at him for as long as they wanted. It was fine. After dealing with it for more than a decade, it was fine. He was used to it.

Raihan wanted to spare Leon that pain for as long as possible.

But for now, it was still a few hours before the conference was over. He'd flown over early in the morning hoping to catch Leon before he had to be on the field. Raihan tiredly shifted further down on the bench and shifted his hoodie over his eyes, ignoring how much they stung from unshed tears.

It was fine. He was used to it. Better him than Lee.

**Author's Note:**

> Next Chapter focuses on Leon


End file.
